June 16, 2009 - Although the conventional wisdom has been that Christopher Nolan would be back to direct Batman 3 after helming his next film, Inception, the rumor mill now suggests that Nolan's involvement with the sequel to The Dark Knight might not be a given after all.

A trusted industry source for Batman-on-Film claims that it is going to take a herculean effort on the part of Warner Bros. to sell Nolan on doing a third Bat-film, confirming an old rumor that the studio has indeed complied a short list of replacement candidates. So why is Nolan reportedly iffy on directing the film?

"The death of Heath Ledger in January of 2008 rocked Mr. Nolan hard. So hard that Chris was convinced that TDK was going to be it for him and Batman on film," according to BoF's source, adding that the Joker was envisioned as the villain in the third film.

The source also informed the site that BoF is "correct in reporting that (Nolan) is developing story ideas with [Jonathan Nolan] and David Goyer, but it will be until AT LEAST 2012 before we see the Caped Crusader back [in theaters]. And that is only an EARLY ESTIMATE at best right now. They are even saying it might not be until 2013."

BoF's source went so far as to say that, as of now, there is no story for Batman 3.

To be truthful I don't think there would be a very good way to make another film without the Joker. Maybe it be best to just not make another film

They could totally do it. They could do an entire film centered around the Riddler and Two-Face. My basic idea is that since Batman is now considered a criminal Edward Nigma could be hired as a special detective to hunt him down. He would eventually become obsessed with the idea and begin leaving riddles and traps to catch him which would lead to him becoming the Riddler. Meanwhile, Two-Face could emerge from Arkham (I don't believe he's dead) and Gotham would see that Batman was the hero all along.

That could all be done without the Joker. That being said....the lack of the Joker would really stand out if it went past a third film. I think this may be hard to pull off, but maybe the Joker could be done completely with CGI. It wouldn't be perfect but it would be something.

My ultimate pipe dream for these movies is for them to go long enough that they could bring Bane in, have him release all the villains (Joker, Two-Face, Riddler, Penguin, Catwoman, ect.) and attack Batman.

This could totally work without Joker. Maybe he could have died between the second and third film. Maybe have Harley (angered that Batman was forced to kill the Joker) join forces with the Riddler. Or maybe have Talia be Batman's new love interest and explain what happened to Ra's. Also, Bane and Catwoman could be in the 4th flick. There's way more Nolan could do. This is very disappointing.

June 17, 2009 - IGN chatted with David Goyer today about his new TV series FlashForward, during which time we barely had a chance to ask him about what's happening with Batman 3. It's not much, we admit, but here goes:

IGN: What has Christopher Nolan said about whether he wants to return or not, because we're hearing the possibility that he might not, or he's debating it?

David Goyer: Well, I believe he said if we can find the story that he's happy with, that he would return. And unfortunately, respecting Chrisâ€¦ You know, talk to him after he finishes Inception, which he's shooting right now. That just started shooting.

IGN: How much thought have you given to story ideas?

David Goyer: You know, we've been talking.

And that's it. Again, it ain't much but for those of you hungry for any and every morsel of information about the next Bat-film, well, it's something!

Ain't It Cool News has posted an interesting rumor saying that Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. Pictures could be planning to shoot the follow-up to The Dark Knight completely in IMAX format:

The THIRD chapter of Christopher Nolan's Caped Crusader's saga could very well be FULLY shot in IMAX, not IMAX Digital - but the beautiful, stunning IMAX that we saw pieces of THE DARK KNIGHT in.

Now this is something that I'm sure a lot of you will feel is a no-brainer. Nolan blew us away with the IMAX sequences in that film - but it was a very tough process to work in. Mainly due to the limitations of how many available real IMAX rigs there are. Not only that, but lenses had to be created, adapted and god forbid one broke down. Part of the reason that Nolan went forward with INCEPTION first - besides taking a creative break from the cape and cowl adventures... was possibly to create a few new IMAX cameras made to his specs. Once again - the cost of shooting an entire feature film on IMAX... the stock, the time it takes to reset, to load, to move the cameras... Well... it is daunting, but as Nolan proved with DARK KNIGHT - the difference is stunning.